The Malaysian Employers Federation states that the country’s economic recovery efforts will be severely jeopardised if employers are not provided with the necessary workers, especially in sectors that are still dependent on foreign workers.

The Federation is calling on the Malaysian government to address the situation by allowing such sectors to have their foreign workers.

“While employers are eager to regain business traction, they are very frustrated for not being able to engage the necessary workers as locals still shun the work performed by foreign workers,” MEF President Datuk Dr Syed Hussain Syed Husman said.

Husman added, “The jobs of foreign workers must only be for blue-collar work, as the employer recognses that supervisory roles should be given to locals.”

“We must realise the issue is not about foreign labour in selected industries because this is about the national economy,” Husman said. “If these sectors fail to produce then our overall national economy will suffer.”

Malaysia’s unemployment rate stood at 4.8% in July 2021, up 0.1% year-on-year according to research from Statistics Malaysia.